Chester A. Poling - A week later

      We were back on the Poling exactly one week after our first visits this year. It was another day of soaring temperatures above water and even less forgiving conditions below. The bottom ocean temp dropped considerably from last week, my face and hands were stinging in the 41 degree water. The wind was blowing and the tide was going out contributing to small whitecaps and a powerful current. This was definitely the Poling we remembered from last year.

 
   Again we rode the line down to the break. I typically don't make it as far as the break when we moor on the stern. While many make the swim, you don't have much time to take in the scenery. The camera gear really adds a lot of drag and also contributes to my overall aversion to swimming while I'm 100 feet underwater. 

As usual the deck was swarmed by thousands of cunner. Some of the larger ones on the wreck reach 8 or 9 inches, but most are half that size. These fish are abundant and generally unimpressed by the presence of divers.

Below, a sea raven showcases its camouflage while hanging on on a beam inside the break. I'm wondering if it's the same one we saw last week.

Another resident found sanctuary inside a broken pipe. An impressive spot considering the pipe protruded about 10 feet off the sand and away from everything else. Also a brilliant hiding place considering she could back down as far as she wanted into the pipe evading capture by man or beast.








I generally don't see many of these acadian redfish while shore diving, but I almost always see one or two every time we dive the Poling. There's no doubt that the fish's vision is impressive due to the large eyes. Being red also helps it avoid detection in a place where there is very little red light. This particular fish was about 4 inches long.



                                                                                               

Spanning the deck from the break towards the stern, there is a catwalk completely encrusted with invertebrates. Finger sponge, palmate sponge, breadcrumb sponge, frilled anemone, and colonies of hydroid are all clustered together competing for space. Midway down the catwalk there are some extremely sharp shards of metal bent upward. Needless to say, it's important to avoid contact with the catwalk and be aware of any currents that may push you into it.

Chuck decided to do a practice ascent using his pony bottle. We found out that even with our safety stops, the pony bottle would provide more than enough air to get us back to the surface. Chuck clips his 40cu.ft. bottle to his d-ring, I wear my 30cu.ft. bottle on my back to make space for hauling around my camera. 

  

Chester A. Poling

The Chester Poling is probably the most popular wreck dive in Cape Ann. In 1977 this coastal tanker was literally ripped in half in 30 foot seas during a fierce January storm. Today recreational divers can only access the stern half of the wreck located just outside of Gloucester harbor. The bow portion was carried several miles out to sea where it now rests upside down, in 190 feet of water only to be seen by technical divers.
 

 Our first Poling dives this year were on July, 23. We set out with Cape Ann Divers on their small boat with Captain Jim.  Getting into our drysuits proved difficult as temperatures approached 100 degrees, everyone was chewing on ice cubes to stay cool. Jim moored on the break of the wreck. As we traveled down the mooring line, water temps quickly dropped to about 45 degrees. It felt like going from summer to winter in the span of 100' and about 90 seconds.

  After our decent we took a quick swim over the the break. As you round the side of the wreck you are treated to a spectacular, cavernous opening exposing the guts of the ship. The break is about 20' tall and 40' wide and filled with twisted, jagged metal, old rope, and encrusted with invertebrate life. The space is far too big to be captured in a single picture. The wreck also rests in muck so visibility can become very poor especially if divers start to kick up the silt. I only ventured a few feet into the break to get pictures. Any serious wreck penetration should be reserved for properly equipped technical divers.

The shot above was the first thing I saw the very first time I dove this site. Having never been that deep before and looking down into the wreck, I aptly dubbed this the "Ladder to Hell." I'm now pleased to return with better camera equipment that can capture a decent image of it. It looks like it goes down forever, our best lights can't seem to hit the bottom of this ladder. The structure is now overcome with frilled anemone and tubularian hydroid.                                   
                                                                  

Rob, another photographer swimming by in his red, vulcanized rubber drysiut, looking like a martian of some kind.




Chuck is getting filthy in the muck below looking for the resident wolf fish that lives under the break (we didn't find him). Chuck was also kind enough to take my picture, but as my girlfriend bluntly put it, I "looked like a fat-faced pinhead." (I really did) So we'll try again next time, maybe a little shallower...


We were able to muster a combined 50 minutes of down time from the dives. I'm currently looking at some video I shot there, but have yet to cut anything together. I'll share some video cuts in the upcoming weeks. 

Beach Bugs!

I can't always talk about fish so here's the next best thing, BUGS. I took the following shots with my macro lens at Cathedral Rocks and Halibut Point Sate Park, both in Rockport, MA. Halibut Point can get crowded on the weekends, but is otherwise very nice. There's a few small trails to hike on, a big granite quarry, and you can walk along the ocean as well. There's no sand, but a lot of small tidal pools to explore by the water. I believe you can even bring dogs here year-round. Swimming is not for the faint of heart due to water temps and lack of easy places to get in and out of the ocean.

 I rescued this ant from a tidal pool and helped myself to some pictures while she was recovering. She's cleaning her front leg and still has a bead of water on her head. 

A very pretty (and hairy) horsefly? landed on me. After moving the fly, it was unusually cooperative for picture taking. All my macro shots are handheld which makes it difficult to draw accurate focus, and most insects don't stick around or stay still long enough for you to get many shots. This fly just chilled out on the rocks for a few minutes. 

Same fly, but from the front. This angle reveals the compound eyes and proboscis nicely.

To the right is a sand flea. These spring-loaded isopods are common on New England beaches. Some people get creeped out by these guys because they are frequently attracted to the underside of beach towels for shade and moisture. You can also find them under rocks and driftwood often along with earwigs. Sand fleas are quite small (the 'rocks' in the photo are grains of sand) but are capable of launching themselves considerable distances. 

Folly Cove, Gloucester

       Last month, against our better judgment, Chuck and I decided to dive Folly Cove in the pouring rain. After days of bad weather and massive electrical storms, we didn't have high hopes for the visibility or the overall comfort level of the dive. It also wasn't encouraging that the cove was completely abandoned.     

Proceeding a ridiculous attempt to get into my drysuit in the back of my Honda, I was ready to jump in. Following the western side of the cove to Folly Point, we were surprised and pleased to enjoy excellent visibility and tranquil conditions underwater. The first thing we noticed was a staggering amount of sand dollars resting on the bottom, there were thousands of them. You could hardly find a square foot patch of sand without them.

      On our way out, halfway to the point, we saw a fully grown ocean pout. It was a beauty. Very docile, it allowed us to get right next to it without being spooked. Eventually it lazily swam beside us and then rested next to the wall. The fish had an obvious full belly which probably contributed to it's overall sluggishness.  

 After hitting Folly Point, we were ready to turn around. I looked up one last time and realized that I was completely engulfed by a huge school of Pollock. Completely overwhelmed, I started sucking down air like crazy. The school, hundreds strong, moved as one giant swarm. I briefly attempted to keep up with them, but quickly determined that it was a futile action. As fast as they appeared, they were gone around the point. On the way back to shore we saw our ocean pout friend again, this time resting in the sand. I drove home with my head in the clouds, it was a great day to be a fish-nerd.

Rockport (Sandy Bay) Breakwater

  The Sandy Bay breakwater rests about 1.5 miles offshore of Rockport, Massachusetts. The breakwater was a monumental design. Construction began in the late 1800s and was promptly abandoned in the early 1900s as the project was found to be vastly over budget. The incomplete breakwater has since become an enormous man-made reef attracting schooling fish and encrusted with invertebrate life.  

Healthy invertebrate life growing on the granite boulders of the breakwater.

The top of the rock wall ascends about 10 feet above water and quickly tumbles down to the sand 70 feet below. You can dive the wall at any depth, and the site is easy to navigate. The view from the top of the wall looking down is magnificent. 

The view from above. Schooling pollock are regularly seen at this site.

It is very difficult for photos to give a sense of scale to this place. Some of the boulders are the size of school buses. They provide excellent protection for the inhabitants of the area.

Chuck is exploring the crevasses looking for photo worthy critters.  

Some of the grumpier inhabitants came out to say hi...

 After diving the breakwater, the Cape Ann Divers boat took us to the Dry Salvages just to the east. Seals have been hanging out near the Salvages and we were in hopes to see some underwater. Within minutes of jumping in, about 4 seals found us. They would dart in front of you and be gone in a flash, or tug on your fin behind you when you were not looking. Apparently flaunting their acrobatic skills and speed, it was very difficult to get any decent pictures of them. 

The guy above kept whipping around me in circles, I was finally able to get a picture before he disappeared again. They seemed more like dogs than wild animals. Our encounters with the seals were fleeting at best so I came back to the Salvages a few days later. We saw some seals playing at the surface, but I personally didn't see any underwater.

Captain Steve told me were to find some colorful rocks, I heeded his advice and was not disappointed. The inverts growing on the rocks in the shallows of the Little Salvages rivaled anything I've seen in a tropical, coral reef. It was breathtaking.

I ventured a little deeper (35'-40') and found a bed of sea stars. There were thousands of them covering the rocks. 

Strewn about the dive site was rubble from the wreckage of the USS Grouse. The only discernible pieces I found were some old electrical conduit and other small metal debris. We lucked out both days with good conditions above and below water and a weak current. This was a fantastic dive.